ShangLuda
Admirable film.
Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
Zlatica
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Paul Magne Haakonsen
As big of a name that David Cronenberg is in the horror scene, then I can't really claim to be a fan of everything that he touches. I have never heard about "Rabid" before I happened to stumble upon in this late in 2017. I read the synopsis and it sounded like something that could potentially be alright, as it did have that zombiesque vibe to it.I managed to endure 30 minutes of "Rabid" before I gave up out of sheer and utter boredom. I actually found myself with my mobile phone in my hand and was playing a game while watching this movie. Yeah, it was that boring to me.From what I managed to see during the 30 minutes that I sat through, then there was nothing appealing or interesting here that fell into my taste and preference. So I can in all honesty say that I am not going to return to watch "Rabid" later on in order to finish it.As for the cast and their acting talents, well, I can't really complain about anything here. The acting seemed adequate considering that the movie was from 1977 and given the limitations of the script and storyline imposed on them."Rabid" didn't really make much use of special effects in the 30 minutes that I managed to endure. So whether or not the movie actually did well on the effects department, that I cannot make a proper statement about.This was a rather bland and uneventful 30 minutes that I will never get back. And from what I saw, then my rating of "Rabid" is a meager 3 out of 10 stars, and I do feel somewhat large and generous here actually. The movie cover boasted "Pray it doesn't happen to you", which actually happened to summarize the feeling of having to sit down to watch the movie quite well.
liambl
After a motorcycling accident with her boyfriend, Rose (played by porn actress Marilyn Chambers) is sent immediately to the hospital. While there, she is given plastic surgery, only to end up in a temporary coma. Everything changes as she wakes up one night and brutally attacks one of the doctors. It then gets worse as she, not only leaves him wounded, but also infected in some way. All hell eventually breaks loose as the infection finally spreads.First of all, I did go into this movie with high expectations. About five minutes in, I was somewhat expectations a slasher film; granted, I did watch the trailer for this, so that obviously that wasn't what I was going to get. And that slasher film, again obviously, was a different movie, so that definitely wasn't the case. What I did get was, there I say again, underwhelming. The good: Marilyn Chambers is attractive, I will admit that. And the build up of every scene is on point. I'll also admit that the makeup effects are, for the most part, spot on. The bad: the acting and the pacing, mostly the acting. While not the worst, I'm sorry but the acting was not on point at all. As for the pacing, I can't put my finger on it, but most of the scenes felt way dragged on.Let me just say that this is not the first David Cronenberg film I have seen, technically that would go the remake of The Fly. Two other films of his that I have tried to make it through were were Shivers and Scanners, two yet completely overrated other horror films. With all that said, do I recommend this one? Of course not!
adriangr
An early David Cronenberg film, "Rabid" showcases the director's skill at unsettling his audience with themes of disease transmission and infection. The plot sees the heroine Rose (Marilyn Chambers) suffering a road accident and receiving emergency treatment at a plastic surgery clinic (due to it being the closest place to the accident site). The treatment she receives is experimental, and the results are unexpected to say the least because Rose develops some very unnatural eating habits, leaving a string of victims behind her, who go on to spread a fatal infection to other people. The character development is better than it might have been. Rose is oblivious to the chaos she is causing. She is scared and confused by her own physical condition, but unaware that her victims are becoming something far worse than she is. Marilyn Chambers does a good job in the role. Wavering between frightened, nauseous, sexually alluring and bewildered, she successfully carries the movie. Some of her ambiguous expressions may be a result of the actress's inexperience but I think this makes Rose a complex character. In some of her scenes she has an impassive, almost sleepwalking demeanour but for me this works too, and I was able to imagine the many layers of inner dialogue going on inside her mind. Chambers is surrounded by an excellent supporting cast. All the acting is all very natural, and the people who get ill really do look horrible. The film goes a lot further with it's spread of the rabies-like disease than I expected, skilfully hiding it's low budget. Scenes of attacks on subway trains and in shopping malls are chilling and realistic. The special effects are very good. My only niggle is the amount of time Rose spends naked in the film, in many scenes where it is simply not relevant, and it seems like Cronenberg exploited Chamber's past movie career by asking her to do this and boost box office takings. The role would have worked very well without it. One other issue is that all of the men Rose meets after she leaves the hospital seem to be slimeballs who only want one thing. Like his previous film "Shivers", the movie seems to warn of the perils of sexual contact. It does it well, and the result is effective and memorable.
SnoopyStyle
Rose (Marilyn Chambers) is injured in a motorcycle accident. Doctor Dan Keloid performs an experimental grafting surgery. A growth in her armpit becomes a dangerous stinger which she uses to suck the blood. Her victims turn into crazed flesh eating zombies who then spreads the disease. Soon she escapes the hospital and it spreads into the city.This is an earlier Cronenberg. It's got some of his body horror style. While the armpit monster gets the headlines, the leg skin is actually quite gruesome. Marilyn Chambers' acting is better than expected but it's by no means great. She's good enough to be in a B-horror. None of the other characters stand out and it's hard to feel the horror.
